Research

Discover Research Opportunities with the LMU Electrical and Computer Engineering Department

The ECE faculty are dynamic teacher-scholars working in both applied and theoretical areas of electrical engineering and computer engineering. The department provides an all-inclusive education that balances theory, practice, synthesis and discovery to help students meet the challenges of an ever-changing complex world through dynamic programs with interdisciplinary opportunities.

The ECE faculty and students work side-by-side on cutting-edge research in various areas of electrical engineering and computer engineering, including sensor networks and wearable technology, machine learning, optics, electromagnetics and wireless communications. Depending on the focus of the research, students may also work with faculty from other programs at LMU, including Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Systems Engineering.

Graduate students can select either a thesis option or a capstone option to gain valuable research experience. Undergraduate students can participate in faculty mentored research through a range of undergraduate research programs available at LMU. Both undergraduate and graduate students can also participate in research by joining faculty research teams or joining team-based club programs such as CubeSat.

Current faculty research areas of emphasis include the following:

• Deep Learning and Applications: Due to rapid advancements in big data and high performance computing, deep learning architectures and algorithms have recently made major performance breakthroughs in visual tasks, including image classification, image recognition, and more. Dr. Lei Huang's research applies deep learning technology to solve challenges facing our society.
• Electromagnetic Propagation and Applications: Dr. Jie Xu's research interests include electromagnetics, wave propagation in complex media, antenna design, remote sensing, and medicine. Recent projects include multipath EM propagation modeling, electromagnetic orbital angular momentum, and characteristic modes of radiators and scatterers.
• Intelligent and Embedded Networked Systems: The Intemnets Lab conducts research on Wireless Multihop Networks (WMNs) that adapt to human activity. The research focus is on a set of intelligent and embedded wireless networked systems that are aware of the users' activities and their environments, and that adapt to their variations.
• Photonics: Ultrafast detection, a technique that uses light to detect extremely fast phenomena, is the main research interest at the Photonics Lab, which is directed by Dr. Hossein Asghari. This technology has applications in medicine, telecommunications, and aerospace/defense.
• LMU CubeSat Laboratory: CubeSats are small satellites whose volume is given in Us, where one U is a cube of 10 cm3. Students from several programs in our college are working on the design and implementation of the LMU CubeSat. Students of different programs collaborate in this laboratory including Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, and Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Vejarano advises students working in this laboratory in collaboration with industry partners.